Articles
Economic analysis of a photovoltaic field on a greenhouse roof
Article number
1426_65
Pages
471 – 478
Language
English
Abstract
Greenhouses are known for providing suitable climatic conditions to enhance crop growth, which also depends on the available solar radiation.
On the other hand, photovoltaic technology is an environmentally friendly (and profitable) way of generating power in places with a certain amount of sunlight per year.
The aim of this work is to analyse the profitability of a facility that consists of a photovoltaic field placed on the roof of a greenhouse, which needs to be designed according to the trade-off between increasing the area of the field to produce more energy (with the subsequent shading on the crop) and maximizing the fresh fruit yield.
To give an answer to this problem, in addition to the expected energy and fruit prices, it is necessary to use several types of models: a model for electricity production considering the solar geometry and an equivalent circuit for photovoltaic modules, a greenhouse climate model that depends on the external weather conditions, and a crop growth model to estimate the fresh fruit production over a season.
By coupling these models particularized for a real facility located near the campus of the University of Almería (Spain), it was demonstrated that installing a photovoltaic field on the greenhouse’s roof is viable from an economic point of view.
On the other hand, photovoltaic technology is an environmentally friendly (and profitable) way of generating power in places with a certain amount of sunlight per year.
The aim of this work is to analyse the profitability of a facility that consists of a photovoltaic field placed on the roof of a greenhouse, which needs to be designed according to the trade-off between increasing the area of the field to produce more energy (with the subsequent shading on the crop) and maximizing the fresh fruit yield.
To give an answer to this problem, in addition to the expected energy and fruit prices, it is necessary to use several types of models: a model for electricity production considering the solar geometry and an equivalent circuit for photovoltaic modules, a greenhouse climate model that depends on the external weather conditions, and a crop growth model to estimate the fresh fruit production over a season.
By coupling these models particularized for a real facility located near the campus of the University of Almería (Spain), it was demonstrated that installing a photovoltaic field on the greenhouse’s roof is viable from an economic point of view.
Publication
Authors
J.A. Sánchez, F. García-Mañas, J. Ramos-Teodoro, F. Rodríguez
Keywords
climate, crop growth, power production, design
Groups involved
- Division Precision Horticulture and Engineering
- Division Greenhouse and Indoor Production Horticulture
- Working Group Nettings in Horticulture (subgroup of Protected Cultivation in Mild Winter Climates)
- Working Group Light in Horticulture
- Working Group Organic Greenhouse Horticulture
- Working Group Vegetable Grafting
- Working Group Modelling Plant Growth, Environmental Control, Greenhouse Environment
- Working Group Protected Cultivation, Nettings and Screens for Mild Climates
- Working Group Computational Fluid Dynamics in Agriculture
- Working Group Design and Automation in Integrated Indoor Production Systems
- Working Group Mechanization, Digitization, Sensing and Robotics
- Working Group Greenhouse Environment and Climate Control
- Division Landscape and Urban Horticulture
- Commission Agroecology and Organic Farming Systems
- Division Vegetables, Roots and Tubers
- Working Group Vertical Farming
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